Strand feeding mechanism



March 26, 1957 K. H. ANDREN ET AL 2,786,569

STRAND FEEDING MECHANISM original Filed April 19, 1951 asf .9a 338W (9Fri/356V@ /392 seo Vv O O (D Trng/Vf);

STRAND FEEDING MECHANISM Karl H. Andreu, West Allis, Wis., and CharlesJ. Roach,

Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Western Electric Coinpany,Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Originalapplication April 19, 1951, Serial No. 221,911. and this application May12, 1955, Serial No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 203-156) This invention relates to strand feedingmechanism and more particularly to a capstan for advancing a strand andfor retracting the strand to take up the slack therein. This applicationis a division of the co-pending patent application by K. H. Andren andC. J. Roach, Serial No. 221,911, filed April 19, 1951 on an apparatusfor attaching terminals to wires and now Patent No. 2,708,459.

An object of the present invention is to provide a capstan for grippinga strand and advancing it in response to rotation in one direction andreleasably gripping a strand to take up the slack therein and to releasethe strand after the slack has been taken up in response to rotation ofa capstan in the reverse direction.

A device illustrating certain features of the invention may include acapstan having a cylindrical periphery for supporting one convolution ofa strand thereon and having a plurality of iirst jaws mounted adjacentthe periphery thereof for reciprocable movement in an axial directionand stressed for movement in one direction to yieldably press and gripthe strand against a plurality of cooperating second jaws on the disc.The strand is guided onto and off of the periphery of the capstan in apredetermined zone and a stationary cam member actuates the first jawsto open position to release the strand in this zone. The second jaws arepivotally mounted on the capstan for oscillatable movement aboutradially disposed axes and are resiliently urged to a predeterminednormal position for cooperation with said first jaws to grip the strandtherebetween and to advance the strand in response to rotation of thecapstan in one direction. In response to rotation of the capstan in thereverse direction the second jaws serve to releasably grip the strandand move it in a reverse direction to take up any slack therein and thesecond jaws have eccentrically disposed gripping surfaces which serve torelease their grip on the strand after the slack has been taken up andwhen the stationary strand pulls on the second jaws and causes them toturn on their pivots.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent byreference to the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which Fig. l isa side elevational view of the capstan with portions of the guide meansfor directing the strand relative thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan sectional View of the capstan and associated partstaken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the capstan taken on line 3-3 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the capstan;and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View of the capstan.

The present capstan 79 is designed to grip and advance a pair of strandsof wire 42 in response to rotation of the capstan in one direction andto releasably grip the wires to move them in the opposite direction totake up the slack therein and to release the gripping engagement nitedStates Patent O therewith when the slack has been taken up in responseto rotation of the capstan in a reverse direction.

The wires 42 are withdrawn from supply reels and guided over pulleys 370and directed tangentially onto and around the capstan 79 and guidedtangentially from the capstan onto pulleys 371. After the wires 42 leavethe pulleys 371 they are secured to articles and have a tension appliedthereto for advancing them as they are unwound from the capstan.

The capstan 79 is in the form of a disc 378 keyed to a drive shaft 375which is mounted for rotation in supporting brackets 376. The disc has apair of cylindrical surfaces or shoulders 379 forming drums separatedfrom each other by a central peripheral rib 380 of octagonal shapeextending outwardly from the surfaces 379 and having vertical Walls 381.A pair of wires 42 is adapted to engage and be partially wrapped aroundthe drums 379 of the capstan and be moved toward the walls 381 by aplurality of axially reciprocable jaws 383 mounted on opposite sides ofthe capstan. These jaws 383 comprise rectangular plates 384 mounted inslots 385 in opposite sides of the disc 378 and have Shanks or rods 386extending axially therefrom, the heads 387 of which are slidably mountedin guide apertures 388 in the disc. Springs 389 interposed between theheads 387 and plates 390 secured to the disc 378, stress the jaws 383 tonormal closed posi tions (Fig. 3) in engagement with the plates 390.

ln their closed positions the reciprocable jaws 383 press the wires 42against the curved surfaces 392 of oscillatable jaws 393 which serve asabutment members and are disposed in slots 394 extending transverselyacross the rib portion 380 of the capstan. The jaws 393 are mounted forpivotal movement about pins 395 carried by plate 397 which are securedto the capstans by screws 398 and overlie the slots 394 to retain thejaws 393 in position. Springs 396 urge the oscillatable jaws 393 formovement about the pins 395 as viewed in Fig. 5 to normal positions inengagement with one wall of the slots 394.

In response to forward or counter-clockwise rotation of the capstan 79as viewed in Fig. l the wires 42 are gripped between the reciprocablejaws 383 in their normal closed position and the end of the oscillatablejaws 393 and advanced therewith. In response to the rotation of thecapstans in a reverse or clockwise direction the oscillatable jaws 393are adapted to grip the wires 42 against the reciprocable jaws 383 andcause the wires to be moved therewith until the wires are drawn taut andoier sufficient resistance to overcome the tension of the springs 396and cause the oscillatable jaws 393 to rock about the pivot pins 395 andrelease the wires 42. The curved surfaces 392 of the oscillatable jaws393 are eccentric relative to the pins 395 and are such that as the jaws393 are moved with the capstans in a reverse direction they will beoscillated about the pins 395 by a drag of the stationary wires and willrelease their gripping engagement therewith. in other words, as thecapstan is rotated in the reverse direction to take up the slack in thewires 42 associated therewith, the Wires are gripped between the jaws383 and 393 and are moved with the capstan until the slack is taken upand the wires are heid against further movement with the capstan,whereby as the capstan continues its reverse rotation the wires 42 sliprelative to the moving jaws 383 but serve to turn the jaws 393 abouttheir pivot pins 39S to positions where they release the wires and nolonger grip them against `the jaws 383. The curved surfaces 392 of thejaws 393 are not concentric with the pins 395 but are shaped to provideprogressively more clearance between themselves and the associated jaws383 as the jaws 393 are progressively turned from their normal positionsshown in Fig. 5, whereby during the reverse movement of the capstan,

after the slack is removed from the Wires 42, the wires turn the jaws393 to positions where the clearance between the gripping surfaces ofthe jaws 393 and 3?3 is suicient to allow the Wires to move freelytherebetween.

There are four sets of reciprocable jaws 3S?, and cooperatingoscillatable jaws 393 for each side of the capstan disposedequi-annularly about the disc 37S and these eight sets of cooperablejaws are adapted to grip the pair of wires 42 during a major portion ofeach rotation of the capstan. The reciprocable jaws 3233 are yieldablymaintained in their normal closed positions by springs 389 to grip thewires against the ends orthe oscillatable jaws 393 for movement with thecapstan, and the reciprocable jaws 383 are moved to open position, torelease the wires in the zone where the wires are directed onto and fromthe drums 379 of the capstan, by the engagement of rollers 400 on theends of the rods 3% of the jaws 383 with stationary arcuately shaped camplates 401 disposed at opposite sides of the capstan 79. The cam plates401 are mounted on a bracket 402 which is attached to a horizontal bar404 which is supported by the brackets 376.

It will be understood that the shaft 375 has a plurality of capstans 79secured thereto for feeding a plurality of wires 42 to the apparatus ofwhich the capstan feed is a part and that selectively operable `drivemeans are provided for rotating the capstans in one direction to advancethe wires successively through predetermined distances and for rotatingthe capstans in the reverse direction to remove the slack in the wiresas more fully disclosed in the above-referred-to application.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of this invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a strand feeding device, the combination of a rotatable capstanfor supporting a looped portion of a strand thereon, a plurality ofstrand gripping means mounted on said capstan in spaced relation toeachv other for yieldably gripping the ystrand to feed it in response torotation of the capstan in one direction and to take up slack in thestrand in response to the rotation of the capstan in the reversedirection and for releasing the strand when the Slack has been taken upand the strand is held against movement, and means for actuating saidfstrand gripping means successively to release portions of said strandas the strand gripping means traverse a predetermined zone to permit aportion of the strand to be moved off of the capstan and a portion to bemoved thereonto.

2. In a strand feeding device, the combination of a rotatable capstanhaving a peripheral surface for supporting a looped portion of strandthereon and having means forming abutments disposed transversely ofsaidl peripheral surface against which said strand may be gripped, aplurality of jaws engageable with the strand and mounted on said capstanfor rotation therewith and for movement toward and away from saidabutments, resilient means for moving said jaws to a closed position togrip the strand against said abutments for movement with the capstan,and means for moving said jaws from said closed position during apredetermined portion of their rotation with said capstan to releaseportions of `said strand and permit portions thereof to be moved ontoand off of said capstan.

3. In a strand feeding device, the combination of a capstan mounted forrotation and having a peripheral surface for supporting a strandthereon, means on said capstan forming gripping surfaces `disposedtransversely of said peripheral surface against which said strand may bepressed, a plurality of jaws mounted on said capstan for rotationtherewith and for sliding movement in an Cit axial direction thereoninto engagement with the strand, resilient means for moving said jawsaxially in one direction to a closed position to grip the strand againstsaid gripping surfaces, and a stationary cam for moving said jaws in theopposite `direction to an open position during a predetermined arcuatemovement of the jaws with said capstan to release said strand and permitportions thereof to be moved onto and off of said capstan.

4. ln a device for feeding a strand and intermittently retracting it toremove the slack therein, the combination of a capstan mounted forrotation alternately in opposite directions about an axis and having aperipheral surface tor supporting a strand thereon in spaced relation tosaid axis, a plurality of jaws mounted on said capstan for rotationtherewith and for movement thereon, means for stopping the movement ofsaid jaws in predetermined closed positions in engagement with saidstrand, resilient means for moving said jaws from open positions to saidclosed positions, a plurality of abutment members, means mounting saidabutment members for movement on said capstan to and from normaloperative positions in the path of movement of `said jaws, resilientmeans for moving said abutment members to said operative positions forcooperation with said jaws in their closed positions for 0ripping lthestrand therebetween to feed the strand in response to rotation of thecapstan in one direction and to retract the strand in response torotation of the capstan in the reverse direction and for releasing saidstrand when said abutment member is moved from said operative position,said abutment members being moved from said operative positions by thestrand during the rotation of the capstan in a reverse direction whenthe strand is held against movement, and means for moving said jaws toopen positions during movement of the jaws with said capstan through apredetermined zone to release portions of said strand and permitportions thereof to be moved onto and off of said capstan.

5. In a device for feeding a strand and intermittently retracting it toremove the slack therein, the combination of a capstan mounted forrotation alternately in opposite directions about an axis and having aperipheral surface for supporting a :strand thereon in spaced relationto said axis, a plurality of jaws mounted on said capstan for rotationtherewith and for movement in an axial direction thereon, means forstopping the movement of said jaws in a predetermined closed position inengagement with said strand, resilient means for moving said jawsaxially in one direction to said closed position, a plurality ofabutment members, means mounting said abutment mem- 'ners on saidcapstan for pivotal movement about radially disposed axes to and fromoperative positions in the path of movement of said jaws, means foryieldably retaining said abutment members in said operative position,said abutment members having curved gripping surfaces operable in saidoperative position to cooperate with said jaws in their closed positionfor gripping the strand therebetween to feed the strand in response torotation of the capstan in one direction and to retract the strand inresponse to rotation of the capstan in the reverse direction and forreleasing said strand when said abutment member is moved from saidoperative position, said abutment members being moved from saidoperative positions by the strand during rotation of the capstan in areverse direction when the strand is held against movement, and astationary cam for moving said jaws to open positions during a portionof their rotation with said capstan to release portions of said strandand permit portions thereof to be moved onto and off of said capstan.

6. in a device for feeding a strand and intermittently retracting it toremove the slack therein, the combination of a capstan mounted forrotation about an axis and having a peripheral surface for supporting aloop of strand thereon in spaced relation to said axis, a plurality offirst jaws mounted on said capstan around the periphery in spacedrelation to each other on one side of said strand on the capstan forrotation with the capstan and for movement relative thereto to a normaloperative position in engagement with said strand, a plurality of secondjaws mounted on said capstan around the periphery thereof in spacedrelation to each other and in alignment with said first jaws and on theopposite side of said strand for rotation with the capstan and formovement relative thereto to a predetermined closed position inengagement with said :strand for pressing the strand against said rstjaws, means for moving said second jaws on said capstan to open positionduring movement of said jaws with said capstan through a predeterminedzone to release portions of said strand and to permit portions thereofto be moved onto and oi of said capstan, said first jaws in saidoperative position cooperating with said second jaws in their closedposition to grip the strand therebetween to feed the strand in responseto rotation of the capstan in one direction and to retract the strand inresponse to rotation of the capstan in the reverse direction, said firstjaws being moved from said operative positions by said strand during therotation of the capstan in a reverse direction when the strand is heldagainst movement and said rst jaws being operable to release said strandwhen they are moved from said operative position.

No references cited.

